Series: Renewal!
Hosea 6:3 ESV
2 Corinthians 5:1-5 ESV
2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV
2 Corinthians 5:14-16 ESV
When I first started “sitting” with a Spiritual Director years ago I was in a season of discovery.
I did not choose that season.
In many ways it came upon me without warning.
I thought my life was settled and it was the way it would always “be”.
I can’t say I fought it because the changes came about quickly…like a thief in the night.
Suddenly my life changed.
Looking back, it’s interesting that I did not know what I did not know. I thought my relationship with the Lord was good. I prayed regularly. I had fellowship with other believers. I was using my gifts to serve God.
I’m not saying any of that was bad…I just had no idea how much better it could be (would be).
In Hosea 6:3 the prophet wrote, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn;he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”
Before…when I didn’t know what I didn’t know I had not suffered great loss.
I had known losses, but not life altering losses (think some version of Job kind of losses).
Looking on the bright side (and there really really is a bright side) it was the beginning of a time of renewal. But, because the major changes came suddenly, it didn’t feel like a “good” season at the time. Anyone who experiences major changes in a short period of time can attest to the fact that it feels like the world is spinning and you can’t find your center of gravity.
The really good news is that when we turn to God and let go, regardless of the circumstances we are kept in a safe place.
It’s almost like a protected zone.
Think of it this way…while change is difficult God sees the end result.
Letting go and trusting God with the temporary process of change (even many major changes) means we believe and know that God is the conductor of all of the instruments in our lives.
The truth is, even though it didn’t outwardly look like it was going to eventually be alright, God is more than capable of creating a beautiful new symphony of life.
There are times in all of our lives when change comes.
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 Paul wrote, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”
When we turn to God we have the Spirit of God living in us.
That’s a guarantee.
So, even though everything around us seems to be spinning out of control, God is in the process of making all things new.
Paul goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “we walk by faith, not by sight.” Even though we cannot see the end result (and as humans we really really want to SEE the end result) we can close our eyes and let God wrap us in the Spirit and guide us into our new reality.
During the time when God is renewing everything for us we can know that God is in charge of the renewal. The entire process is in God’s capable hands.
Paul goes on to tell us in 2 Corinthians 5:14-19, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
Paul’s words are unbelievably accurate as he explains the process of renewal.
Of course when we experience the process due to loss of everything we’ve known, it doesn’t feel like it’s a beautiful process.
It can feel unsafe because we’ve lost the old life we knew. We even long for the life we lost but by faith we can believe in “all things new”.
Everything accomplished by God’s hands will be beautiful in time.
God will create a beautiful new symphony of life for you. It will be a song you can sing everyday to remember the beauty God created on your behalf. You may not smile during the process, but eventually you will remember…you will sing the song of renewal God created for you.
Spiritual Practice: Renewal
Turn to God and be thankful for God’s promise of renewal.
In God, Deborah
Comments